About Us

The ASEAN Studies Centre is devoted to research on issues that pertain to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an institution and a process. The Centre is a part of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), a leading think tank dedicated to the study of trends and developments in Southeast Asia as a whole.

Who's Who

Mr Tan Chin Tiong, born in Singapore on 3 June 1944, studied at St Joseph's Institution and University of Singapore, graduating in 1967 with a First in History. He was awarded the University Book Prize.

Mr Tan has had postings to the Ministry of Finance (Economic Development Division), and the Ministry of Law. He served with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) from 1967 to 1982, retiring as Deputy Chief of General Staff. He attended the 6th Army Staff Course, Camberley, in the United Kingdom in 1972 and the Advanced Management Programme, Stanford-INSEAD in Fontainbleau in 1981.

Mr Tan was Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of Home Affairs (1982-1993), Finance (1993-1995), Information and the Arts (1995-1997) and Foreign Affairs (April 1997 to July 2004).

Mr Tan was awarded The Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 1976, The Public Administration Medal (Gold) (Military) in 1981 and The Meritorious Service Medal in 2005.

Mr Tan was Singapore's Ambassador to Japan from 15 October 2004 to 27 January 2012.

Mr Tan was appointed as Director ISEAS from 1 March 2012, and concurrently Ambassador at Large on the same date.

Dr Ooi was appointed Deputy Director of ISEAS on 1 November 2011. His books include The Reluctant Politician which won the "Award of Excellence for Best Writing Published in Book Form on Any Aspect of Asia (Non-Fiction)" from the Asian Publishing Convention 2008; and Continent, Coast, Ocean: Dynamics of Regionalism in Eastern Asia, which was named "Top Academic Work" in 2008 by the ASEAN Book Publishers Association (ABPA). He is Adjunct Associate Professor at the Southeast Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore, Visiting AssociateProfessor at the Department of Public and Social Administration at City University of Hong Kong, and Editor of Penang Economic Monthly.

Mr Rodolfo C SeverinoHead, ASEAN Studies Centre

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Rodolfo C Severino, a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies since 2004, is a former ASEAN Secretary-General and former Philippine diplomat. He is the first Head of the ASEAN Studies Centre. He has authored four books, all published by ISEAS: Southeast Asia in Search of an ASEAN Community (2006), ASEAN (2008), The ASEAN Regional Forum (2009) and Where in the World is the Philippines?(2010). Mr Severino served as ASEAN Secretary-General from 1998 to 2002. Prior to that, Mr Severino was Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, and Ambassador to Malaysia, among other duties. He twice served as ASEAN Senior Official for the Philippines.

Mr Termsak’s is a Visiting Research Fellow at ISEAS and Lead Researcher for Political and Security Affairs at the ASEAN Studies Centre. His research interests concentrate on political and security issues in ASEAN and ASEAN’s external relations in ASEAN.

Before joining the ASEAN Studies Centre in July 2012, Mr Termsak had served nearly 20 years at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, where his last post was Director of Political and Security Cooperation. He joined the ASEAN Secretariat in February 1993, and served as Assistant Director for Economic Research, and for External Relations during the 1990s, when he was involved in the early stage of ASEAN-China engagement. From July 1999 until April 2009, he was Special Assistant to three Secretaries-General of ASEAN (Mr Rodolfo C. Severino, Mr Ong Keng Yong, and Dr Surin Pitsuwan). Prior to joining the ASEAN Secretariat, Mr Termsak had worked at The Nation, an independent English-language daily in Bangkok, off and on, since October 1972 in various positions, including chief reporter, news editor, and lastly editor of the Editorial Pages until December 1992.Born in Bangkok in September 1952, Mr Termsak received a BA in international relations from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political Science in 1977, MA and PhD in political science from University of New Orleans in 1982 and 1986 respectively.

Ms Sanchita Basu DasLead Researcher, Economic Affairs

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Sanchita Basu Das is a Fellow at ISEAS and the Lead Researcher for Economic Affairs in the ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS, Singapore. She is the coordinator of the Singapore APEC Studies Centre and co-editor of Journal of Southeast Asian Economies (Economic Journal, earlier known as ASEAN Economic Bulletin).

Prior to joining the Institute in 2005, she has worked in the private sector as an economist at Consulting Engineering Services, India; ABN AMRO Bank, India; Aditya Birla Group, India and United Overseas Bank, Singapore.

Sanchita has an MBA from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and an MA from the Delhi School of Economics (India).

She is currently pursuing her PhD in International Political Economy (IPE) from Nanyang Technological University (NTU, Singapore).

She is the author/editor of seven books and numerous book chapters and policy papers. Sanchita’s research interests include – Economic Regionalism in ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific Region; Regionalism and Economic Development; Macro-economic and Financial Trends and Issues in Southeast Asia.For a detailed list of Sanchita's publications, please visit this link.

Ms Moe ThuzarLead Researcher, Socio-Cultural Affairs

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Moe Thuzar is Lead Researcher (socio-cultural) at the ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS. Starting July 2012, she was appointed an ISEAS Fellow and is also a member of the ISEAS’ Myanmar Studies Programme.Moe coordinated the programme from July 2012 to October 2013.

Before Moe joined the ASC in May 2008 she headed the ASEAN Secretariat’s Human Development Unit, which coordinated ASEAN cooperation in labour, youth, social welfare, education, women’s affairs, poverty reduction and rural development, health, and civil service matters.

At ISEAS, Moe has co-authored with Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Myanmar: Life After Nargis (ISEAS, 2009), and has co-edited with Yap Kioe Sheng, “Urbanisation in Southeast Asia: Issues and Impacts” (ISEAS, 2012). She has contributed to several compendia/volumes on ASEAN, and on Myanmar.

Moe is also a resident analyst for Channel News Asia’s Think Tank programme. She is working on a review of Myanmar’s foreign policy, focusing on the post-1988 period. Her research interests cover urbanisation and environmental cooperation in ASEAN, ASEAN integration issues, and ASEAN’s dialogue relations. Moe was a Temasek scholar for the Master in Public Policy Programme at the National University of Singapore.For a detailed list of Moe's publications, please visit this link.

Pham Thi Phuong ThaoResearch Officer

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Thao joined the ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS in November 2012. Before that, Thao worked in different diplomatic missions in Hanoi, Vietnam, including the Embassy of Finland and the Embassy of India, covering research, public diplomacy activities and communications. Thao holds a Bachelor of Economics in Foreign Economic Relations from the Foreign Trade University, Hanoi and her research interests include economics, particularly regional trade.

Ms Lily Koh Secretary to Head of ASEAN Studies Centre

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Mr Devane Sharma

Public Information and Communications Officer

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Mr Takaaki Kojima

Associate Fellow

Research Interests: International relationsEmail:
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Dr Omkar Lal Shrestha

Associate Fellow

Research Interests: Human capital and economic development in Vietnam, economic development of the CLMV countries, economic integration of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region, ASEAN-SAARC economic relationsEmail:
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